The epidemiology of mental health in women with epilepsy

The concept of mental health is related to prevention of mental disorders and maintain healthy life style, furthermore some factors including epilepsy disease may provide impediment to healthy life style. The purpose of this study is the epidemiology of mental health in women with epilepsy.

This study was descriptive, survey research method. The participants were recruited from women with epilepsy who were as a member of Iran epilepsy association. Convenience sampling technique was applied among 251 women with epilepsy. The SCL-90-R questionnaire was used for this study. Chi-square test was conducted in this project.

This study indicated that 49.4 % of participants were suffering from at least one mental disorder; the most prevalent disorder was paranoid whereas phobias was allocated the lowest. There was significant difference between several variables such as low level of education, unemployment and increasing age with psychological problems. However, there was not any significant difference between marital status and psychological problems.

The mental disorders are significantly prevalent among women with epilepsy. Therefore, it is essential that paid much more attention to mental health status among this vulnerable group.